How does one pack for two years?

It’s a question I’ve seen over and over again from the Peace Corps volunteers as they attempt to figure out what to pack for their service. One good piece of advice I saw is to recognize that I’m moving somewhere, not camping in the middle of the woods for two years. I can purchase pretty much anything I need over there. That being said, this is the mess that was the living room as I pulled out everything I want to take with me:

Contents of my bags spread out across the living room (but no, the dog isn’t coming sadly)

Yeah. Many hours of struggling and cutting out items, I now have 4 bags totaling at least 130 lbs. Two checked bags, one carry on and one personal item. Chances are that I’ll have brought too much and won’t use most of it, but that is my problem to figure out.

So what did I actually pack?

I had intended to do a full list of items, but it honestly just got too cumbersome to keep track of everything. I have a lot of clothes and shoes, plus notebooks, books, too many electronics (seriously, it’s ridiculous), hygiene items (contact solution and hand sanitizer FTW), tools and even a pillow. Maybe after I have a few months to reflect on what I packed and the environment I live it, I can give better to advice to anyone looking for packing lists of their own!